The Vancouver Summer Program with UBC Science provides students with the opportunity to study at a top international research university and experience local Vancouver culture.
What you might expect/course format
Courses with UBC Science include in-class and lab portions taught by UBC faculty members, graduate students, and guest lecturers. Courses also include short field trips and other engaging learning opportunities. Students can expect team-based learning activities and assignments.
Check out VSP Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries’ page here!
July 2025 Course Packages
Becoming a Leader for the Oceans and our Planet
This course prepares students to become leaders in ensuring a healthy, sustainable, and equitable future for the oceans and the planet. Designed for environmental science students across all disciplines, the course focuses on developing versatile leadership, communication, and policy analysis skills essential in tackling global environmental issues. Through interactive workshops and group activities, students will learn about knowledge translation, develop their presentation skills, create effective policy briefs, and communicate science to different audiences, including policymakers and the public. Emphasizing collective leadership, interdisciplinary teamwork, and science communication, this course is ideal for those aspiring to roles in environmental policy, advocacy, and leadership. A science background can be helpful; however, students from many different areas will benefit from the course content.
Key Focus:
• Leadership and teamwork for sustainable ocean and environmental management.
• Science communication and public engagement strategies.
• Policy briefing and interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Transferable skills applicable across the environmental sciences.
Grand Challenges Facing the Ocean
The leadership skills gained in the program serve as a base for this project-based course, which focuses on addressing the world’s oceans’ significant environmental challenges, such as overexploitation, marine pollution, climate change, and ocean acidification. Students will dive deeper into specific marine and coastal issues and apply their leadership and technical knowledge to real-world environmental problems. Through group projects, students will analyze these global challenges, identify sustainable solutions, and develop actionable plans to implement change. This course is perfect for students who want to apply their leadership and problem-solving skills in the context of environmental conservation and management, making a tangible impact on the future of our oceans.
Key Focus:
• Applying leadership skills to global ocean challenges.
• Tackling real-world marine issues like pollution and climate change.
• Collaborative problem-solving for sustainable ocean solutions.
• Practical application of interdisciplinary knowledge to environmental advocacy.
Prerequisites: No prerequisites
Minors (students aged under 19 at the start of the program): Not Accepted
For more information
For VSP Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries-specific questions, email Vicente Regis, Program Specialist, Extracurricular and Extended Learning, at v.regis@oceans.ubc.ca.
